About meHi! My name is Dustin Bledsoe, I am 29 years old and I am going for a nice long walk across and around America starting in early to mid May. So about me... I grew up in the same area that I live right now, about a 20 minute drive Southwest of Kansas City. As a kid I was lucky enough to live in a part of town that had lots of wooded areas and natural wonders to explore. I absolutely loved the outdoors (and still do!) and for as long as I can remember I've always wanted to travel the world and see everything! I also have aspirations to some day be a parent, settle down into a committed relationship and run my own business- with those responsibilities come many obstacles that will make it hard, if not impossible to do this and/or see everything that I want to- I'm certainly also not getting any younger!
By chance I stumbled onto a blog about another long distance walker a few months ago that got me thinking about how cool it would be to do something like that. As I thought about it more and started googling about it I found myself to be in a perfect position to be able to do this myself and I'd say for every person who actually does go through with something like this there's at least a hundred more that wish they could but can't for one reason or another. The more I researched about a walk like this the more I fealt that if I don't do this now there may never be another opportunity and I know I'd regret passing it up forever- I've passed up too many great opportunities in life already to let another one get away!
Thanks to my becoming a computer-nut I have the means and know-how to share my trip with those not fortunate enough to be able to see the world for themselves. For about 7 years now I have been into game design and have decided to pursue it as my long term career, on the same site that you'll find my blog you'll also find documentation on all the main projects that I've worked on and been a part of over the years (link near bottom of the page). I also think this will be a great addition to my portfolio and game design aspirations; During my travels I am bringing with me a very nice camera not just for photography and sharing with you fine folks, but also for collecting a huge amount of concept art and gathering all the textures I will ever need for current and future endeavors, the textures I collect alone will save me thousands of dollars in the future since I won't need to buy texture packs, pay for texture site membership or hire people to help me with that part of my projects- hell, I may even be able to profit off of selling my own texture packs in the end using the photos I gather. To top off the help to my game design career, if I have enough extra funds I am hoping to be able to upgrade to a gaming laptop not [only] for gaming; while I'm on the road I plan to stop and spend time enjoying my favorite locations, during these travel breaks I am going to explore, collect all needed textures/concept art, then recreating those best spots exactly in the game engine I prefer (CryEngine). By doing this I'll be able to show side by side comparisons on my portfolio that documents my abilities to recreate many different environments from start to finish and everything in between. But anyway, enough about me, below is more information about the walk.
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What am I doing?I am raising funds to walk in a giant bow tie around the United States. I would be just walking from one coast to another but no matter what route I take I'd end up missing much of what I would like to see in my travels. Since I live near Kansas City I decided instead to break this trip into a two part, two year journey that will first take me in a giant loop around the Western half of the U.S. then I'll be taking a 3-6 month break before setting out on the Eastern half of my journey, by doing this I will be walking from coast to coast two times and from the Northern to Southern border/coast of the continental U.S. two times. I'll also save around $400-$500 in plane tickets to get to one coast and fly home from the opposite. The way I'm planning my route is so that I can follow the warming Spring and Summer weather North and then traveling South as the weather starts to cool. Below I've attached a pic that shows the general route I plan on taking during my travels.
The route:
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How to track me and my progressDuring my trip I will be keeping people updated through a dedicated spot in my portfolio where I will blog about my journey. I'll be keeping the blog updated at least once a week (ideally every day but that's unrealistic) unless I don't have internet access for more than that time. On the blog you can expect tons of pictures, videos I make, historical facts about the places I visit, stories I hear from the locals and lots more that I can't think of at the time of this writing. Check at the bottom of the page and you'll find a link to the blog/portfolio.
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About the bookI will be writing a couple of books as I go. The first book will be about this first Western half of the walk, and the second about the Eastern half. During my break in between I will edit, publish and send out the first book to my supporters and then set out on the Eastern route to repeat the process. Depending on the first two's success I may also publish a third book when it's all said and done but it's much too early to start thinking about that. While the blog will be more about the walk itself, the books I'm writing as I travel will focus more on me personally and my thoughts about the walk. I'll be writing the book/s as I go instead of finishing and then writing about it all. The reason I'm writing as I go is that this is the sort of experience that changes who you are as a person [almost always] for the better; my goal is not just to improve myself but to be able to reflect back in the book and see the changes as they happen. And for me, reading about my thoughts will preserve the memories much better than photos alone ever could.
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Bitcoin and the walkI've been into Bitcoin for nearly three years now and outside of mining, using Bitcoins to buy things and doing the normal things that help support the network I also want to do my part to help promote it's success. I also need help making this trip possible and could use your help with donations. During my walk I will be using a cart with a large sign on it that has the Bitcoin symbol along with a donation address and my website address where I will be blogging. I am going to be encountering people from all walks of life all over America and I know that just with the BTC sign/address alone people are going to be asking questions, and even for those who don't I am going to bring up the topic at appropriate times and explain what bitcoins are.
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On donationsBitcoins: I have a special plan for the BTC donations that I receive, while some of it will go into funding the walk I am going to set aside AT LEAST 25% of all donations I receive. As I mentioned above I am going to be spreading the word about Bitcoin, explaining what it is, how it works, etc. For each person that I give away BTC to I'm aiming to be able to give about $20-40 USD equivalent each time and I'm going to do my best to get the BTC to the people who would benefit from them the most. As a stipulation to being given those free coins I am going to document their introduction with a mini-interview where I'll find out what they like about bitcoins and what they think could use improvement. A note on the interview, I could use some suggestions on what to ask them so let me know! And one last thing, if you would like to donate BTC and would like more than 25% of your donations to be used please PM me first to let me know how much you're donating, your sending address and what % you'd like me to put toward the giveaways. Unless you're donating a large amount please don't request over 75% though, I need some of these donations to get by!
BTC rewards- If you would like something in return for your donations such as a copy of the book, souvenir, post card, special pics, for me to visit a specific place or whatever else please
PM me first with the amount you'd like to donate and what you'd like in return so that I can let you know if it's feasible. Remember, a quarter of the donations are for giving away plus I need some of the donations to make this walk possible, just keep the requests reasonable. If you do choose to donate and would like a reward of some kind please PM me first with the amount you'd like to donate, your address and your name if you'd like to be recognized in the 'Contributor' section of the book/blog, please wait for me to respond before sending the donations. Of course, you don't HAVE to PM me anything if you would like to remain totally anonymous.
BTC donation address: 1MRzT2KnsNqKydqNj8eFa1qxyhTHUv8BT2
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Kickstarter: I have a Kickstarter project setup that has more information on the walk as well that you can find in the link below. Most of these funds are going to be put aside for emergencies and the publishing of the first book. To learn more about the walk check out the link below. This is my first time recording something like this, I'm not very comfortable on camera and it shows in the video; I'm quite fidgety. I'll be making lots of videos as I go, I promise I'll get better at it!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/windowofamind/a-mind-at-3-miles-per-hourPaypal: Sannyassi_73@yahoo.comAmazon: Sannyassi_73@yahoo.comOther means of donations: If you'd like to donate through some other means please let me know and I'll see about making that form of donation available.
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Blog/Portfolio: www.windowsofamind.comBTC donated so far: 0 BTC
BTC to be given away: 0 BTC
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This post is much too long and I still didn't get all the information I wanted to in it! Thank you for taking the time to check out my project, without support from the community I won't be able to accomplish this huge undertaking. Even if all you can afford to donate is a 'Good luck!' it'll be appreciated. If there's anything I didn't mention that you'd like to know about just ask here. And lastly, if anyone has any suggestions or advise on how to make this trip the best it can be, let me know! And everyone: Take care!
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